If you’re a live music fan, it’s likely you’ve visited our Live Music Archive. The LMA is a place where willing bands and dedicated fans can freely trade recordings of live shows for non-commercial use. It’s reminiscent of the bygone days of tape trading except with a bigger fan base and more shows than thousands of tapes could hold.

In June 2008, Internet Archive’s Director and Co-Founder, Brewster Kahle, predicted that by January 2009 there would be 55,000 individual live shows on the Archive. Well here we are, and Brewster was correct; there are now more than 56,000 shows to treat yourself to. CDs can be expensive and tickets to all of the shows you want to see can quickly drain the wallet, but because so many bands are taking part in the etree movement, Internet Archive is able to freely supply users with some of the best live shows around.

If you don’t see a band on the LMA, feel free to contact them yourself to see if they would be willing to have their music archived and shared. They can then send a simple email to etree@archive.org to be included, and fans can begin to share recorded shows. For some more information on how on the LMA works, visit our FAQ page.

Brewster’s second prediction was 60,000 shows by Memorial Day. If that’s the case, you’ll be able to have a pseudo-summer music festival on your porch. Grab some friends, food, beer, speakers, and your laptop.

LMA is the best HTTP source for live shows, be it a soundboard recording, audience or matrix.
Shameless plug for a band I have no finicial intrest in – U-Melt.http://www.archive.org/details/umelt
check em out.